Walt Disney Studios is in the middle of some record-breaking box office success in what is proving to be a very big year for Disney. As a result, The Walt Disney Company has promoted Studio executive Alan Bergman to Co-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Bergman has served as the President of Walt Disney Studios since 2005 and will now serve alongside Co-Chairman Alan Horn.
- In a corresponding move, Horn has also been given the role of chief creative officer at Walt Disney Studios.
- Both Bergman and Horn are currently helping oversee the incorporation of the Fox assets recently acquired by the Walt Disney Company.
- Bergman also helped with the integration of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm in the past.
- Bergman and Horn will have to handle a very ambitious studio that now has to create films not only for traditional theatrical release, but also original films for release on Disney+.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, the promotion of Bergman could be a succession plan of sorts for when the 76-year-old Horn plans to retire, though Disney did not provide any comment on when Horn’s contract will be up.
- Since Horn took his position at Walt Disney Studios in 2012, the studio has seen massive success, becoming the first studio to ever bring in $7 billion at the global box office in a single year in 2016, before repeating the feat in 2018.
- 2019 should prove to be another incredibly successful year, with films like Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame already being huge hits and a slate of films on the horizon that includes The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
- In fact, Disney’s movies have already grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide this year and there is still plenty more to come.